


The Card

by pennysparrow



Series: Batfam Week 2017 [7]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 13:22:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11231880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: It's Father's Day and Jason has a mild crisis in a pharmacy card section.





	The Card

**Author's Note:**

> Final day of Batfam Week is Father's Day! I hope you enjoy!

The fluorescent light above him in the small pharmacy flickered as Jason shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He had been standing in front of the Father’s Day card rack for so long he was no longer processing them and was instead just staring at the bright colors.

In his left hand Jason clutched the one he had picked out for Alfred, planning to sneak into the manor and leave it in the kitchen while the others were all eating dinner. He had paused before heading to the register when the thought to get Bruce one too had struck him. He’d been standing there ever since.

A teenaged girl in the pharmacy’s polo shirt cautiously approached him. “Um… Can I help you?” She asked nervously.

Jason cleared his throat, “No. Thanks. I’m- uh- still deciding. It’s- overwhelming?”

The girl nodded, obviously deciding that she had made enough of an attempt to count as doing her job she turned and walked away. Jason looked back at the card rack and sighed. It wasn’t just picking out a card that was giving him trouble, he was still unsure if he actually wanted to get Bruce one.

Getting Alfred one wasn’t even a conscious act at this point. He’d always gotten the older man something, even after he’d come back. Normally, since he wasn’t on good terms with the others or in Gotham, Jason would mail the card to Alfred. He always made sure that it got to the manor on time and knew the butler appreciated the gesture.

Right now, Jason was trying to avoid making the actual decision to buy a second card by trying to figure out where the impulse came from. Maybe because he was dropping Al’s off for once. With an uneasy truce meaning he could risk being caught at the manor bringing to mind the whole reason the family would be there in the first place. That definitely sounded about right.

Jason sighed for he had now circled back to the question of whether or not he should get Bruce a card. He twisted his mouth to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. If he were to hypothetically get Bruce a card, which would it be? Certainly not the borderline-crappy poetry type he always got Alfred, they both thought the lines were so bad they were funny and knew that the sentiment was genuine. It couldn’t be a generic “Happy Father’s Day!” with Snoopy or something on it either. Unfortunately for Jason they didn’t exactly make a “Hey, I hope your day doesn’t suck cause you adopted me and that was really cool and I still care about you and what not even though I’ve tried to kill you loads. Love your undead, estranged son.” That one would’ve been perfect.

Jason saw the girl from earlier in the next aisle over and began speaking without really thinking. “Hey Ponytail!” She looked up with a mix of confusion and nerves, not that he could blame her seeing as how this was Gotham. “You got any Father’s Day cards for the emotionally constipated?”

She blinked at him once. Twice. Then wrinkled her nose and asked, “What?”

Jason shook his head, “Didn’t think so.”

She gave him the side-eye that obviously meant he better leave soon or else she was calling the cops. It was now or never on the card conundrum.

Jason took a step closer and examined one that had caught his eye, the only card with predominantly dark colors in the otherwise pastel display. Darth Vader stood on the front in all his menacing, red lightsaber wielding glory. Across the bottom were the words “It’s Father’s Day?” and suffice to say Jason was interested. He snagged the card from the rack, opening it up he snorted. A pouting, stick figure Luke had his arms crossed over the words “Well nobody’s perfect.”

If Jason were to, theoretically, buy Bruce a card it’d be this one. Not only would he be amused by the similarities between the Vader costume and his own, Jason was positive Bruce would actually get the reference. Not to mention it summed up their relationship perfectly.

Card in hand Jason wavered, would this help to mend their strained relationship or worsen it? Did he really want to be the one responsible for that, whether it turned out good or bad? A check of his watch made the decision for him. He grabbed an envelope for it and headed to the register. If he timed it right he could sneak in and drop both cards off while the others were eating and then lay low for a couple of weeks to avoid the fallout.

He set them on the counter and gabbed his wallet out of his back pocket. When Jason looked up it was the same girl. She looked less nervous now and more done with working retail than anyone Jason had ever encountered.

“So you found a card?” She asked as she scanned it.

“Yeah. But you should really work on your emotional range the size of a teaspoon selection. Took me forever to find it.”

She paused in her screen tapping. “Did- Did you just quote Harry Potter at me?”

“Maybe,” Jason said with a shrug.

She stared at him before shaking her head and going back to the touch screen. Jason had to admit that her facial expression was the best embodiment of the phrase “what the actual fuck” that he had ever seen. “It’s eight forty-three. Do you have a club card?”

“Um, no?”

“Do you want one?” she asked exasperated. He wondered how long she’d been here.

“Um, is it worth it?”

For a second Jason swore that the girl’s eyes honest-to-god glowed with rage before she rolled them. “Lookit dude, I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Now that I think about it I don’t really come in here. So…” Jason handed her a twenty and didn’t even bother to wait for his change. Grabbing the bag and throwing a “Why don’t you keep it, I’ve given you a hard time,” over his shoulder.

He walked to his bike and shook his head, the weird tension from an almost verbal brawl still fizzling around him. It did nothing to help the sudden butterflies in his stomach as he pulled his helmet on a swung a leg over the motorcycle. He sucked in a deep breath as he kickstarted it and released it as he peeled out of the parking lot.

Weaving through Gotham’s ridiculously light late afternoon traffic Jason made it to Bristol in record time. Pulling up the manor’s long gravel drive he was unsurprised to see Dick’s bike, one of Tim’s sportscars, and Cass’s black jeep all parked out front. He parked next to Cass and cut the engine.

His nerves jangled as he slipped off his helmet. Jason grabbed the cards out of the bag and pulled a pen from inside his leather jacket. He hastily signed his name in each and scribbled the name of the recipient on the envelopes. Shoving the respective cards in each Jason folded them shut and turned toward the overlarge house.

A part of him wanted to walk right in the front door and sit down at the dining table. Join his siblings in teasing their father and maybe start a food fight with Damian to help remind Alfred that they needed him too.

Another part wanted to just shove the cards under the door and hop on his bike and run. This came just behind the option of not even leaving the cards and just going home.

He needed to make a decision, and like in the pharmacy having a deadline helped. Stand there too long and the security system might alert them of his presence.

Jason squared his shoulders and held the cards a little tighter. He began walking around the side of the house that quickly turned to jogging that ended with an all out sprint to the back door. Knowing Alfred would leave it unlocked in hopes he might still join them. Grabbing the handle Jason swung the door open. Standing just on the threshold he held his breath, half afraid someone had heard. Ducking into the kitchen he set then cards on the island before leaving and running back to his bike.

He jogged with the motorcycle until he was sure starting it wouldn’t draw any attention from the house and drove home.

An hour later Jason was sitting at his kitchen island, eating a plate of spaghetti. Unbeknownst to him his family was cleaning up their meal, discovering the cards on the counter in the process. Alfred smiled, knowing immediately what it was and from who. Bruce paused, surprised to see he had received one too.

He had set down the stack of plates by the sink and grabbed it. Opening it carefully he blinked down at the Star Wars villain staring up at him. Bruce opened it and smiled. He pulled out his phone and typed one word to Jason before hitting send. Thanks.


End file.
